The double ‘R’ for an Englishman is not an easy task. The rolling of your ‘R’s takes some practice, and on many occasions, all the practice in the world will not be enough to successfully pronounce the surname of Liverpool’s number ‘9’.

The forward’s arrival in England has however led to more and more people taking up the ‘Torres challenge’ as Spanish is now the number one language to learn for adults across the country. French and German are no longer ‘top of the class’ as fans and language learners flock to learn ‘Castellano’.

A prestigious Spanish newspaper called ‘Expansion’ published an article which described the growing interest in Spanish amongst language learners. The article included an interview with the Minister for the Study of the Spanish Language in the United Kingdom, José Antonio del Tejo: “Role models like actress Penelope Cruz and Fernando Torres have played a key role, because amongst the young population, Spanish has now become both more attractive, and an interesting language to learn.”


Photo: J.A. Sirvent